Harold Ramis, RIP

posted at 2:31 pm on February 24, 2014 by Allahpundit

His first big-screen directing credit was “Caddyshack.” His first big-screen writing credit was “Animal House” — followed over the next eight years by “Meatballs,” “Caddyshack,” “Stripes,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Back to School,” with a few seasons of “SCTV” mixed in. He was the Mike Trout of Hollywood comedy, basically, and that’s before you get to “Groundhog Day.” Even the smaller successes on his resume, like “Armed and Dangerous,” “Multiplicity,” and the “Bedazzled” remake, are fond memories. I’m lazy so I tend to think of him in tandem with John Hughes, not just because they were contemporaries with an improbable string of hits (who hooked up on “Vacation,” of course) but because of how innocuous and even sweet they made rebellion seem. (A lot of 80s comedies did, thanks to their influence.) They were great pop songwriters. If you were a kid when these movies broke big, you’ll never not be nostalgic for them.

Ramis, a longtime North Shore resident, was surrounded by family when he died at 12:53 a.m. from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels, his wife Erica Mann Ramis said. He was 69.

Ramis’ serious health struggles began in May 2010 with an infection that led to complications related to the autoimmune disease, his wife said. Ramis had to relearn to walk but suffered a relapse of the vaculitis in late 2011, said Laurel Ward, vice president of development at Ramis’ Ocean Pictures production company.

There are endless salutes to the subtle genius of “Groundhog Day” online, from National Review to the Atlantic to the Guardian and beyond. Murray was the perfect Ramis hero, never more so than in GD: Seemingly shallow but with great depth, and tenderness, underneath. How many mainstream comedies can seriously be parsed for hidden religious meanings? That’s the level Ramis had reached. RIP.

Via Matt Lewis, here’s the man himself on the resonance of “Groundhog Day” in 2009. Click the image to watch.

Update (Ed): There are far too many great moments of Harold Ramis on screen to remember in a short clip. However, nothing Ramis ever did on screen touched me more than this scene from Knocked Up, which I think rescued the film from being a second-rate stoner comedy. Seth Rogen is telling his father that a baby is on the way, and that it’s a disaster — and Ramis stops him cold (NSFW):

I was watching a little bit of Groundhog Day last week. I have both that and Ghostbusters on my Kindle and often put them on the background to make the workday go by easier. Seriously, those are two damn near flawless motion pictures that hold up incredibly well even today. I’d even go so far as to say that Groundhog Day is one of the finest films ever made.

Well, let’s say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning’s reading, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

I’ve always been kind of a pacifist. When I was a kid, my father told me, “Never hit anyone in anger, unless you’re absolutely sure you can get away with it.” I don’t know what kind of soldier I’m gonna make, but I want you guys to know that if we ever get into really heavy combat… I’ll be right behind you guys. Every step of the way.

Technically the line is “You lie to girls.” Sorry, but I’ve seen that movie too many times. Speaking of Ramis and politics, there’s an unheralded conservative movie, Back to School. Whether it’s Thorton Melon dressing down his econ professor or even Sam Kinison’s rant about Vietnam, that’s a movie that was definitely right-of-center.

Harold Ramis was such a talented film maker, as a writer, director and actor. He has a body of work that is as relevant to the way it left its mark on the culture as for its impact at the box office. 4 of his films are in the AFI top 100 comedies. In time, I think he will be recognized as one of American Cinema’s greats.

Sam Kinison’s rant about Vietnam, that’s a movie that was definitely right-of-center.

Doughboy on February 24, 2014 at 2:53 PM

THAT was a great scene.

Side tidbit – I had Sam Kinison in my face (6 inches away) doing his screaming bit at a small comedy club – before he became really famous. My fiancee (now wife of 26 years) and I were front center stage (first time suckers at a comedy club), and when he started talking bad about marriage, the wife reached over and covered my ears with her hands – Kinison zeroed in on that instantly, so I was his target for the rest of the show.

Side tidbit – I had Sam Kinison in my face (6 inches away) doing his screaming bit at a small comedy club – before he became really famous. My fiancee (now wife of 26 years) and I were front center stage (first time suckers at a comedy club), and when he started talking bad about marriage, the wife reached over and covered my ears with her hands – Kinison zeroed in on that instantly, so I was his target for the rest of the show.

dentarthurdent on February 24, 2014 at 2:58 PM

I remember watching clips on YouTube of his early standup routine(Letterman had him on a lot in the mid 80’s).

“If you ever think about getting married, I want you to remember this face.” Then he’d get right up in the guy’s face and do his famous scream. “That’s the face of every married man.”

One of the cable networks did two 2 hour specials on the 30th anniversaries of both Caddyshack and National Lampoon’s Vacation, both with extensive Ramis interviews. Definitely worth watching if you can find em.

If I were to watch a movie he was in, which would be the best one to see?
OmahaConservative on February 24, 2014 at 2:54 PM

If you want to see an absolutely brilliant, deep, well crafted comedy rent “Groundhog Day”. If you want to just split a gut laughing rent “Back to School” or “Caddyshack”. Or better yet rent all three, they are all better than anything I’ve seen out of Hollywood for at least a decade.

The plotline involing Kurt Vonnegut’s cameo in “Back to School” gets me laughing just thinking about it. And this:

Thorton Mellon: “And what are you studying Honey”

Nubile Coed: I’m a poetry major

Thorton Mellon: Oh, maybe you could stop by and help me straighten out my Longfellow.

One of the cable networks did two 2 hour specials on the 30th anniversaries of both Caddyshack and National Lampoon’s Vacation, both with extensive Ramis interviews. Definitely worth watching if you can find em.
Copperwood on February 24, 2014 at 3:09 PM

They were great. Ramis reveals that the hilarious “Cinderella Story” scene in Caddyshack started out as Murry just goofing off on the set cracking everyone up imprompu and Ramis thought it was so funny he added it to the movie. It was never part of the original script. The line about the Dali Lama still cracks me up even after hearing it 100 times. “So, I’ve got that going for me”

what the hell is your problem?
dmacleo on February 24, 2014 at 3:08 PM

At the announcement of a death, it takes a special kind of narcissism displayed by the ignorant to announce their ignorance, so that we must attend to their ignorance, rather than to the memory of the deceased.

Harold Ramis was an extra-extraordinary writer and comedic genius.
All throughout his carrier he exhibited humility at every juncture … start to finish.
Mentor to the multitude who wished to learn his craft, and who we can only hope will pick up the baton of his genius of creating humor, bringing laughter to the thoughtful. (Lord knows we need it.)
He is gone too soon; his talents touched and inspired many.